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This map shows where agriculture occurs in areas facing water stress. Crop production data is overlaid on Aqueduct's baseline water stress indicator, a measure of demand and supply for water in a given area.

Record-setting levels of smog this week shut down Harbin, a city of 11 million people in northeast China. Officials blamed increased coal consumption during the first days of winter heating, underscoring the urgency of the China State Council’s recently announced initiative to address persistent smog in major cities.

But while the Air Pollution Control Action Plan has ambitious goals—cutting air particulates and coal consumption—it may create unintended problems for the country’s water supply.

Investing in Forested Landscapes for Source Water Protection in the United States

Aging water infrastructure, increasing demand, continued land use change, and increasingly extreme weather events are driving the costs of water management higher in the United States. Investing in integrated water management strategies that combine engineered solutions with "natural...

by Todd Gartner, James Mulligan, Rowan Schmidt and John Gunn - October 2013

Securing clean water is becoming increasingly difficult in the United States. Infrastructure like dams and treatment plants are aging, water demand is increasing, and more frequent extreme weather events like wildfires and flooding are driving up the cost of water management.

It’s a complex problem, but one of the potential solutions is decidedly low-tech: Invest in nature.